The Audit and Governance Committee of Sefton Council had a busy meeting scheduled for Wednesday 11 December 2024, with a wide range of topics on the agenda, from managing the Council’s finances to DBS checks for councillors and a review of whistleblowing referrals.

The Council’s finances

The Committee was scheduled to consider a report on proposed revisions to the Council’s Financial Procedure Rules, which set out the rules for managing the Council’s finances. The changes were proposed following the annual review of the Council’s Constitution¹.

• Issuing quotes for goods and services: The proposed changes include a new section that sets out what council services must do when issuing quotes for the provision of Council goods and services to other organisations and individuals.
• Fuel cards: The proposed changes reinforce the existing requirement for fuel cards to be used in line with the Council’s procedures and include information on the scope of use, card limits, safekeeping and reconciliation.
• Bidding for grant funding: The proposed changes clarify the roles and responsibilities of officers involved in bidding for external grant funding, including the management, certification, record keeping, monitoring arrangements and ensuring any conditions associated with grants are met.
• Grants, donations and contributions: The proposed changes include guidance on the formal approval process that must be followed when the Council is providing support to other organisations or individuals in the form of grants, donations or contributions.

The Committee was also scheduled to consider a report on the Treasury Management Position to September 2024, which reviews the treasury management activities undertaken in the first half of the 2024/25 financial year. The report shows that the Council’s investments have performed in line with the benchmark and that the level of investment income is forecast to be above target for 2024/25. However, the report also highlights the significant impact that the Council’s High Needs Budget Deficit is having on the availability of cash balances and the Council’s treasury management activity.

The report reveals that the High Needs Deficit is forecast to be £59 million at the end of the current financial year and that the Council has had to take on additional short and long-term borrowing in order to maintain prudent levels of liquidity. The report also shows that the estimated cost of servicing this debt will place additional pressure on the Council’s General Fund budget over the next three years.

Finally, the Committee was scheduled to consider a report on Unrecoverable Debts over £10,000. The report sets out the procedures followed when recovering outstanding debts, and recommends the write-off of 39 debts totalling £833,126.22. The report shows that Sefton has a high collection rate for Council Tax and Business Rates compared to other councils and identifies a number of reasons why debts are put forward for write-off including bankruptcy, insolvency, death, the debtor being untraceable or the cost of recovery exceeding the amount of the debt.

DBS checks for Councillors

The Committee was scheduled to consider a report proposing the introduction of DBS checks for Elected Members of Sefton Council. The report outlines proposals for a voluntary scheme for all elected and co-opted members to obtain a Basic DBS Check, with an Enhanced DBS Check² for Cabinet Members and those sitting on the Overview and Scrutiny (Children’s Services & Safeguarding) Committee and the Overview and Scrutiny (Adult Social Care and Health) Committee. The report highlights that, in 2022, Simon Bailey³ was commissioned by the Home Office to carry out a review of the effectiveness of the disclosure and barring regime in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. The review found that there is no uniformity of practice among councils in relation to obtaining criminal record checks for safeguarding purposes. The report includes the following quote from Bailey’s report:

Put simply, if a number of councils properly regard such checks as necessary, having regard to their duty to safeguard, how can the need for the checks not apply to all councils having the same duty? That said, it does not seem to me that it is necessary that enhanced checks should apply to all councillors, but rather to those who are being considered for appointment to any committee involved in decisions on the provisions of children’s services or services for vulnerable adults.

The report also highlights a letter from the Minister for Local Government, sent in January 2024 to all leaders of Unitary and Upper Tier Authorities⁴, stating that:

Government strongly supports the recommendation and I urge an enhanced DBS check to be adopted as best practice for all councillors being considered for appointment to any committee which discharges education or social services functions. Such roles are eligible for enhanced DBS checks, and it is within the power of relevant authorities to implement this best practice.

The report confirms that the Council’s Monitoring Officer, David McCullough, has sought guidance from the Disclosure and Barring Service and confirms that it would be permissible for the Council to implement the scheme set out in the report.

Whistleblowing referrals

The Committee was scheduled to receive a report on the Policy and Review of Whistleblowing Referrals 2023-2024. The report summarises the sixteen complaints received by the Council via its whistleblowing policy during the 2023/24 financial year. The majority of these (nine) were allegations of benefit fraud, with the remainder covering complaints about specific services and allegations about individual members of the public, businesses operating in the Borough and Council employees.

The report notes that the number of referrals received in 2023/24 is significantly higher than the previous two years and highlights that Sefton Council publicise their policy on their website and invite members of the public to refer any concerns they may have about malpractice at the Council.